Sport

Permaul hopes HPC tour experience pays dividends

DHAKA, Bangladesh (CMC) — Left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul believes his knowledge of conditions in Bangladesh will be an asset if he forces his way into the final XI for the two-Test series starting next week.

The 23-year-old Permaul, a surprise choice for the series, toured Bangladesh with the West Indies Cricket Board's High Performance Centre last month where he gained valuable experience in subcontinent conditions.

"I have been waiting a long time for this opportunity to get into the West Indies senior team," he said.

"It has now come and I think it is the perfect opportunity, since I came to Bangladesh a month ago and so I am coming back knowing the conditions and what to expect.

"I think it is a privilege to be in this team to be around players like Chris Gayle and some of the other senior players. As a young player, I think I need to look at how they go about doing things and learn quickly."

Permaul, the West Indies A skipper, has played 45 first-class matches since his debut five years ago, snaring 152 wickets at 24.59 apiece.

He snatched 34 wickets for Guyana in this year's regional first-class championship but was behind Barbados left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn, who claimed 45 wickets and off-spinner Shane Shillingford who grabbed 38 wickets from five matches.

Shillingford also picked up 14 wickets in two Tests against Australia in April but was overlooked by selectors.

Permaul, who gathered 21 wickets in all three forms of the game on the HPC tour, said he had learnt the values of patience and consistency.

"One of the things I learnt was that you have to bowl straight and be consistent in good areas," he explained.

"You need to be very patient because the pitches are slow already and if you try to experiment too much, you may lose control and leak runs.

"In the batting, it's the same thing. You have to be very patient and keep your eyes on the ball, since you can't play too early because the pitch is too slow."

Permaul is the latest young spinner to be selected for senior team duty, following in the footsteps of off-spinner Sunil Narine and leg-spinner Devemdra Bishoo.

Both were voted the ICC Emerging Player-of-the-Year in the last two editions of the ICC Awards but Permaul said despite their heralded debuts, he felt under no pressure to perform.

"I do not really feel any pressure because of what Bishoo and Narine have done," he stressed.

"At the end of the day, performance counts, so all I have to do is grab my opportunity, go out there and perform."